What has 8 Strings and a hockey stick headstock?...

[JSett]

Not gonna do the guessing game.....this guy:



In my quest to try different instruments in order to spur more invention and creativity musically I dove into the classifieds to find something new. This should arrive tomorrow, so I've not had hands on it yet. It's an oddball thinline Korean-made Fender FM61-SE mandolin from 2000-2002.

[Embenny]

It's so weird. I love it. Always fun to try something new!

[JSett]

It's so weird. I love it. Always fun to try something new!

Exactly! I missed out on a 4-string Mandocaster a few weeks back but this one is actually a bit cooler IMHO. I have a bouzouki up in the attic somewhere too I haven't looked at in 25 years. It's probably screwed to be honest.

The chord shapes seem to be very intuitive which will be nice...not a million miles from playing the Ukulele (something I need to buy a longer scale version of soon as the concert size is tough).

[JSett]

Arrived this morning as planned (thanks Parcelforce). It's in very good shape but appears to have the original 20 year-old strings which are kinda gnarly to play. Sounds good though even if all I can play is some 3 chord Irish songs and the intro to Losing My Religion.

The little baby hockey stick is beyond cute

[Embenny]

Hah, awesome. But yeah, get some new strings on that, and I'm sure it'll feel a whole lot better to play.

I hope you have fun learning the mandolin. It'll get you to approach things differently, that's for sure.

As someone who really likes alternate tunings and weird hybrid fretted instruments as songwriting tools, there's an exercise I really like that I got from one of Adam Neely's videos. I think it might work for you, too.

Try writing a melody or riff while sticking to a single string. The muscle memory for specific chords and intervals gets deeply entrenched in our brains, and one way to break out of our typical patterns and clichés is to eliminate those shapes as options. When you're moving up and down a single string, you're no longer thinking in terms of those familiar shapes. You're having to think solely about the notes themselves, instead.

Doesn't make ukuleles and mandolins any less fun to experiment with, but it might help get the juices flowing when you're feeling stuck.

[ludobag1]

it looks really nicz

[PapaB]

Very cool instrument! I had never seen it before. Lovely. Congratulations.

[ryland]

Awesome! I have one of the solid body 8 string reissues that Fender did around 2011-ish that I wish I played...ever.

[BeeTL]

Thank you for helping me visualize a Fender Bass VIII headstock...sweet!

[JSett]

Hah, awesome. But yeah, get some new strings on that, and I'm sure it'll feel a whole lot better to play.

I hope you have fun learning the mandolin. It'll get you to approach things differently, that's for sure.

As someone who really likes alternate tunings and weird hybrid fretted instruments as songwriting tools, there's an exercise I really like that I got from one of Adam Neely's videos. I think it might work for you, too.

Try writing a melody or riff while sticking to a single string. The muscle memory for specific chords and intervals gets deeply entrenched in our brains, and one way to break out of our typical patterns and clichés is to eliminate those shapes as options. When you're moving up and down a single string, you're no longer thinking in terms of those familiar shapes. You're having to think solely about the notes themselves, instead.

Doesn't make ukuleles and mandolins any less fun to experiment with, but it might help get the juices flowing when you're feeling stuck.

Some new strings came yesterday (I had ordered some ahead of time because I like to be prepared). Despite not realising that mandolin strings don't usually have ball-ends, but rather just loops, I had to fudge around and steal some balls from a roll of dead strings and manhandle them onto the ends. It worked well though and I left them to settle overnight as I was out playing a gig last night.

I also write at least a couple of new songs on any new instrument, which then gets transposed over to guitar for the band but I'm hoping to start doing some little solo tracks that don't fit the band just at home alone with a multitracker and I man actually get the sounds of the instruments themselves on them.

The single line thing makes sense, and there's some bouzouki standards out there I might try and learn that are quite single-line heavy which will edge me in that direction, along with some of the traditional Italian mandolin songs.

At the very least my tremolo picking abilities should improve!

it looks really nicz

It does seem to be very well made for its price (looking at the historical new price)

Very cool instrument! I had never seen it before. Lovely. Congratulations.

Thanks!

Awesome! I have one of the solid body 8 string reissues that Fender did around 2011-ish that I wish I played...ever.

I hadn't heard about this model ever, and was actually initially looking for one of the solidbody ones.

Thank you for helping me visualize a Fender Bass VIII headstock...sweet!

Hah! My pleasure. I think it actually makes it. little better proportioned. It'd work well shrunk even more for a 6 or 4.

[JSett]

Day off work today meant I go to play this for a little while. It's definitely wild playing a 13.5" scale some of those chord shapes are damn tight! I'd likely be better with a Mandola but this is what I have at the moment so soldier onwards I will.

But, it's coming along. This is day 1 of learning the Mandolin. Excuse my very serious concentration face haha

[PapaB]

That was terrific! Love your rendition of REM. Everything was spot on. Great band. Great song. Great playing.

[JSett]

That was terrific! Love your rendition of REM. Everything was spot on. Great band. Great song. Great playing.

Thank you! It's definitely a challenge so I thought I'd start with a song I knew pretty damn well.

I might lose the chorus strings (is that what they're called? I dunno) and learn with 4 instead of 8 to break my fingers in a bit easier. It's got a very small nut compared to everything I've ever played (1⅛")...I thought my Concert Ukulele was cramped but it's comparatively spacious going back and forth!

[PapaB]

Going to single strings will make it easier. You are playing very well already. Great job.